peedenmark7 - 8/4/2017 5:12 PM

Not to resurrect an old topic, but after having this very same discussion with a friend yesterday, what good is a warranty if you end up having to use it ?
Nobody pays for your down time do they ?

I have a good friend who guides and went through a nightmare warranty and lawsuit against Ranger and Mercury a few years back... Nothing like having a good warranty ,when dealing with a boat company in receivership.
Lifetime means nothing, just look at St Croix Rods change in policy over the years.
If you don't cheapen up the product or don't mass flood the market with your wares, a lifetime warranty is non issue , correct ?

The bottom line for most boat buyers comes down to price, as few shoppers ever compare apples to apples anyway.

Would I like to a new Tuffy Esox Mag ?
Of course, but when mine is fine and there is no shortage of older ones, why spend 30K+ for one, when another nice older one is out there to be had for well under a third of that ?

Case in point:
I paid $5k for my beloved "special order" '87 Esox Ltd in 2000, it came from ILL and the original owner put a good OMC motor on it rather than the guy that typically spent large for the boat then cheaped out with a Force or Mariner back in the day.
Though the previous owner and I took extreme care of it, the boat eventually needed to be re-floored a couple years ago. Unfortunately I waited too long as about the time I finally decided to take Tuffy up on doing it, they decided that they no longer wanted to fix Glasways short comings, which I get as boat companies are in business to sell NEW boats NOT fix old ones.

My boat was repaired by a former employee and I am still pleased 3 years later.

I've read an awful lot of Ranger V. Tuffy articles here and find them comical at best
because there is no Ranger boat made now or then that can compete with an Esox Mag or Ltd. , much less a 154 , Roustabout, Bassabout , Rogue [for the old timers] in performance or price.

As for the build, Ranger has been in bankruptcy [once-twice?] and builds how many times the boats a year that Tuffy does. So tell me who really has the upper hand on quality control ? Last I heard there are 3 guys assembling at Fiberdome.
How many guys are building the endless supply of Rangers ?

If you like Ranger, no digs, obviously they are doing something right other than marketing. The resale is fantastic, so how can you lose ?

My only complaint with Tuffy today, is the Gunwale and transom corner molding is crap black plastic rather than the aluminum it used to be. (the gunnel material is a nylon composite, not plastic, and is UV stable. We tested it for a year, and left a piece in the driveway getting run over through summer and winter, and it cleaned up and was in great shape. No issues with it in two decades. The aluminum gunnel was and is no longer available, as in Tuffy couldn't buy get what they needed anymore) Plastic is UV unstable, aluminum lasts forever. It is a structural and cosmetic downgrade that I can't accept. (It was more expensive, not less, and structurally is as strong and far more impact resistant than aluminum)
I like the idea of the newer one piece drop in floor( not a one piece floor, it is the deck, side tanks, and spalshwell in one composite piece) , but fiberglassed foam does not appeal to me over marine plywood that is glassed on both sides ( there was no 'marine plywood' in any of the older Tuffy boats, just plain construction grade ply. The composite flooring is a fiberglass/composite grid structure with thousands of glass core structures, is many times stronger that plywood, and will last forever).. Foam is stronger than plywood ? Not a chance....(learn more about composites, incredibly strong and last forever)

My Esox turned 30 this summer and looks at the most a few years old, The new floor is glassed both sides, which Glasway should have done from the start (the floor in that boat was shot with resin on both sides, was not 'glassed on both sides'. The chopped strand that sealed the seams was the only fiber on the floor, which is what all boat builders were doing at the time) never was polyurethane used), rather than brushing on a coat of polyurethane on the undersides.
My transom is solid, it's a clean boat , so why pay 30 grand?

Other than that and the obvious cost cutting measures that ALL makers take these days, I"ll take a Fiberdome built Tuffy over any glass boat on the water. ( Fiberdome uses MUCH more expensive processes now than at any time in the past. Instead of 'cost cutting', they implemented a far more costly laminate structure, comptuer driven electrical system, the finest resins and gel coat, far better seating, the best carpet available, etc.)
Hell, aren't they using Kevlar in the hulls or has that gone away already ?

Bottom line is every fisherman's needs and tastes are very different and once you get away from the Esox and Roustabout hull , all dynamics change, but I'd still take a big water Tuffy over the competition.

Then again, any commentary is totally subjective, and most could careless about that little Lake Mills Boat Co anyway

(Fiberdome uses more resin in a week than most boat builders will use in a month or more. Tuffy Boat's parent company is not even close to 'little', it's grown like mad since Glasway went out of business and Fiberdome bought the company. The locker room for Fiberdome takes up the entire manufacturing area Glasway had.

Stop at a McDonalds, lately? All the new rain shields, store fronts, etc were probably made in Lake Mills. The MATV, replacement for the Hum Vee? Fiberdome probably built the front clip. Het Tank carrier too. Tuffy is Fiberdome's marketing arm, and they don't want to be any bigger than they are)